When Ahaz was king of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel allied itself with Syria against Judah. No doubt this deeply troubled Ahaz and his subjects. But, through Isaiah, God reassured Ahaz,...
There are two places I stop for coffee in the morning: one if I'm in a hurry, and one if I'm not. My "in a hurry" stop is one of the nearly 10...
This post is from the Church Whisperer. ...
In an earlier chapter of my work life, I served as director of web marketing for a large hospital. It was a vibrant place with a compelling mission: to make sick children well. ...
Isaiah 6 begins with the prophet’s vision of a thrice-holy God. Isaiah’s first response is to lament his own sinfulness. Yet, through an angel, God removes Isaiah’s sin. Then the Lord poses a.....
When one of our children has felt rejected by a group or thought she was unattractive and unacceptable, my stomach has tightened and I have ached for her. I've wanted to run and...
It had been a wonderful trip to New Haven to visit my brother. And I even made my first visit into New York City. Exhausted and exhilarated, I was anxious to return home...
I did a lot of coaching last summer. I coached for my two youngest sons: Elijah and his Little League team and Daniel and his T-ball team. It was a commitment of several...
In Isaiah’s day, the people of Israel, especially her leaders and teachers, had forsaken God’s truth. In fact, they justified their own injustice in ways that turned truth on its head, calling evil.....
Why are some professional sports teams always at the bottom of the standings? Most teams cycle up and down the standings, but...
The workplace can be a hotbed for the unexpected. We rarely see those unnerving events coming—you know, the ones that take us out of our normal routine and cast us into fearful uncertainty...
In Isaiah 5, the people of Israel are portrayed as God’s vineyard, with God as the owner and tender of the vineyard. Even though God invested great effort, lovingly caring for his vineyard...
In the opening chapters of Isaiah, God condemns Israel for its immorality and godlessness, predicting a day of painful judgment. But God also looks forward to a time of restoration, when the people...
In the passage immediately prior to this one, Isaiah urged the Israelites not to put too much trust in human beings (Is. 2:22). By relying on unreliable people too much, rather than on...
“I miss them,” my daughter said to me yesterday of some friends we don’t see much anymore. It broke my heart to hear the sadness in her voice as she walked away. ...
Even in the first chapter of Isaiah, where the emphasis is upon God’s call to Israel to obedience, we are also reminded that God alone can forgive sins. God is the one who...
In January of this year I went to the Dominican Republic with Edge Outreach to install water purifiers. We were in the...
What is so Christian about leadership? From one perspective, leadership should be proactive. Leaders need to change this world. I don't know...
In the time of Isaiah, Israel continued to do the things associated with worship: offering sacrifices, keeping the festivals, and lifting up their hands in prayer. But God’s people were not...
I never dreamed I would gain valuable insights into fulfilling Christ's call by eating at my favorite seafood restaurant. But I did. I'd been considering the passage from Galatians 6:1-10 and...
